This requires eight post-it notes (though any square pieces of paper will do) and about five minutes. It could be classified as modular origami, since the throwing star is made out of eight identical units. Please forgive my lack of ASCII art skill.

The Units

  1. Pull a post-it note off of the pad. Hold it so the that sticky side is across the top and facing you. Fold it in half (so that the sticky side is folded in half). Unfold it.
  2. Now you have a post-it note facing you with a sticky band along the top and a crease in the center. Fold the top corners in so that the stick edge lies along the crease. This is the same first fold that you would make to make a paper airplane. Your paper should look like a child's drawing of a house.
    /_|_\
    |___|
    
  3. Refold the original crease that you made, with the folded flaps inward. Now it should look like half a house.
    _
    / |
    --
    
  4. Fold the note in half, so that you have a square one quarter the size of the original note. Turn it so that you are looking at the solid square (the other side will be a triangle. The vertex of the triangle should point right).
  5. Fold the top left corner down to the bottom right corner. Your note will look like a square with a triangle bite taken out of it.
  6. Open it up to step two again (the house). Lay the note out so the that tip of the house's roof faces left.
  7. This is the tricky part. Start to fold it back into step three, but push the center of the non-roof side in so it is inside. You should see an interesting looking rhombus.
    ____
    /   /
    ----
    
  • Repeat eight times, until you have eight identical pieces.

    Fitting The Pieces Together

    1. You'll notice that each piece has a closed end and an open end. The open end has two arms; the closed end just one.
    2. Sit the closed end of one piece inside the open end of another piece so that the closed end is flush with the angular part of the open end.
    3. About 1cm of open end will jut past the second piece. Fold these two tabs down, so that they hold the pieces together.
    4. Repeat until a complete circle is made. There's your throwing star.

    Opening the Star

    1. Pull gently on the "dangerous" tabs until a space appears at the center. Open the space with your fingers until the throwing star has become a ring! Just push it back together to return it to the star position.
  • There's also a rather creative way of using these as Greeting Cards or notes. Just write "Push in!" on the ring, then one word of your message on each little tail that appears when in "star" mode. Most people go a little crazy over it (Its so cute!)...

    ... If they start to really bug you, you can throw one at them with a new message: "Its just a stupid piece of paper, fool" (And it fits perfectly, too)

    It should also be noted that my wonderful Origami book (The Origami Workshop, By Gay Merrill Gross, if you're interested) attributes this design to Robert Neale of Leeds, Massachusetts, and has this to say about the design:
    This amazing model transforms from a ring into a star and back again. It can be used as a coaster, a napkin ring, a card or package decoration, or hanging decoration; as a ring it can be thrown like a Frisbee. For a successful model, it is very important that you fold very neatly. If the units are not folded accurately or are joined together in a sloppy manner, you will hinder the smooth sliding action of the finished model. The Magic Star is a good example of how its creator, Robert Neale, combines his interests in orgiami and magic.

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